Architect DPLG and engineer qualified with the École spéciale des travaux publics (ESTP) [France’s Leading Civil Engineering School] Lou Liangjun is employed within the Vinci Group. He is in charge of developing the shell and core of the M6A1 building of Paris Diderot University and is keen to share his enthusiasm about tackling the complexities of this project, which will house research spaces, a gymnasium, three levels of car parking, offices and a tunnel through the TGV will pass. Over the last 15 years, the architect and engineer has not once rested on his laurels and has continued to deepen his knowledge of the building trade. Here, he retraces the key stages of his career for us.

Lou Liangjun, you initially discovered the building trade through the engineering route…

I was born in Dongyang in the Zhejiang Province. My city has a population of 80,000 people, 10% of whom work in the construction industry. In fact, my first contact with the building trade was as a labourer during my school summer holidays. I was 13, I had this summer job up until I finished school. It allowed me to gain a great deal of technical knowledge and also to understand who does what on a building site. In 1993, I began studying at Zhejiang Polytechnic, on a course equivalent to that which a works supervisor might follow in France. In parallel, I completed additional training, organised by the government, on cost estimation. This helped to land me my first job at Dinli BTP, a very large company in Shanghai. The company wanted to restructure its working methods and, in 1996, I was the only one who knew how to perform computer calculations. After six months, I found that I was a little frustrated to not be able to visualise what I was evaluating. So, I asked to work directly on the constructions. I worked my way up from the bottom to site manager, which gave me a more comprehensive understanding of the industry.

Do businesses in China readily accept requests to change positions internally?

Yes, in China, the aim is for everyone to progress. Whatever the age, level of experience or pace of work… young people get trained and acquire experience. Then, little by little, they become specialised and settled within a company or institution, while furthering their training on new tools. Education is very important for us in China. It is the foundation of everything.

You returned to Dongyang in 1999…

Yes, because I was offered a job there. I was hired as Technical Director by Guansha BTP, the largest private building firm in China. This differed from my first experience in that I was also in charge of coordinating all of the parties involved in projects. In working with architects, I realised everything that I was lacking in terms of my grasp of the building trade, particularly the ability to develop a global view of a project from the design stage.

What made you want to study architecture in France?

It was the chance to kill two birds with one stone: study architecture and learn a new language. I had very few contacts in the architecture world, but I had heard that the best training available was in Europe and in the US. So I told myself it was time to get over there!

You arrived in France in early 2001. What were your first impressions?

My first glimpse of France was the landscape around Nantes and it was the perfect welcome – truly beautiful. I took some French lessons, but very quickly I went to Paris to continue learning the language and find a part-time job. Adapting to the capital, which took around a year, was particularly difficult, especially finding a place to live. People give you instructions for the digicode, interphone, staircase, etc. but I couldn’t understand anything they were saying. But once you have everything sorted administratively and in terms of housing, it’s all fine.

 

To be continued…